Laser driven shock pressure measurements by VF2/VF3 and PVDF gages for pulses of 2.5ns up to 1012 W/cm2

Thick 450 μm piezoelectric VF2/VF3 copolymer and thin 25 μm PVDF gages have been used to measure the induced pressure history at the back face of aluminum and copper targets irradiated by infra-red laser pulses† of 2.5 ns with intensities up to 7.1011 W/cm2. The measured pressures in the gages infer pressures up to 200 kbar on the front face of the target. The whole shock pressure temporal pressure profile applied on the front face of the targets is determined roughly by using the laser matter interaction hydro-code FILM. The modifications to bring to this profile in order to fit the experimental record via the simulation of the propagation of the applied profile into the set-up are very limited. The comparison of the applied peak pressure given by simulation of laser matter interaction and the experiment deduced one is also rather good. These results give the peak pressure versus the incident intensity under these laser irradiation conditions and assess the possibility to use this kind of gages as a meas...